200 and counting

Children of the 90s, the long-running research project following the lives of thousands of Bristol families, has reached an important milestone in its own development.

Children of the 90s, the long-running research project following the lives of thousands of Bristol families, has reached an important milestone in its own development.

On Friday 24 June, the study, formally known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) celebrates the publication of its 200th scientific paper. The research into paternal postnatal depression and its effect on young children appears in The Lancet.

ALSPAC's first paper, published by Professor Jean Golding in 1989, outlined a European study of pregnancy and childhood in various countries. The following year she began to recruit the first of 14,000 mothers who would be at the centre of the research.

Since then, Children of the 90s has become the most comprehensive study of early childhood anywhere in the world. ALSPAC has become a mine of information used by researchers from universities across the UK and worldwide as they examine all aspects of health, behaviour and development.

Professor Golding says the credit must go to the families who have given up their time to help the research. "They, together with our research staff have already achieved so much that has changed the lives of children all over the world.

"Everybody at Children of the 90s is delighted to have got here. This is something that all of us - especially our families - can be really proud about. We couldn't have done it without them."